The distinguishing factor between high and low maturity procurement teams is….

What differentiates a good procurement function from a great procurement function?

Our 2024 Annual Procurement research, Stronger Together, looked at what differentiates a good procurement function from a great procurement function. There is one thing that really stood out.

It’s the relationships within the organisation that matter!

Our research reveals that the most significant factor distinguishing high maturity procurement teams from their lower maturity counterparts is their ability to deeply understand and build strong relationships with the business areas they support. This might be a bit counterintuitive as many assume the key to being a successful procurement manager may be the understanding of the external market environment and suppliers. However, it is indeed the ability to work effectively with internal teams that makes the biggest difference.

 

Initiative	Low maturity teams	Medium maturity teams	High maturity teams
Procurement staff have a deep understanding of the business areas they service	21%	53%	94%
Procurement staff have strong relationships with the business areas they service	25%	37%	94%

 

Figure 1: Percentage of teams that their initiatives have been fully implemented and deliver clear benefits.

Figure 1 above demonstrates that a key ingredient to move from a low to a medium maturity team is the ability to foster a deep understanding of the business area the procurement team services. And while 53% of medium maturity teams say that this is implemented and delivering benefits for them, the step up to high maturity teams is again quite significant as 94% of those teams report that they get clear benefits from their understanding of the business.

While the percentage of teams with strong relationships increases significantly from medium to high maturity, a solid understanding of the business is a prerequisite for forming these relationships effectively.

The results of our research weren’t a complete surprise to us as we have been seeing more and more evidence that it is the soft skills rather than the technical skills that count in modern day procurement functions.

But see for yourself and have a read of Stronger Together or ask Dr Stefan Gassner more about soft skills by booking a meeting.